In Character
by ENGLISH-Y
Summary: Rhyme is a new student and on her first day of Freshmen year, she's already made friends and enemies. What happens when she tries out for the school play, gets the lead female and her worst enemy is the main male? Highschool. ShoxRhyme Rated T for now.
1. New Kid

Disclaimer: I do NOT own The World Ends With You/It's a Wonderful World. SQUARE ENIX AND JUPITER DO.

Beat and Rhyme are NOT siblings, just because if they were it'd make it a bit more difficult, and I want this fanfiction Rhyme based. OWN'D.

I made Rhyme's real name up. Suck it.

Pairings are: Sho x Rhyme

Beat x Neku x Josh

Neku has to choose! –gasp-

Nao x Eri

Uzuki x Kariya

Etc.

By the way, if you all remember Dawn from my other TWEWY fanfiction, she's gonna be popping in here too… at some point.

So yeah. Congrats.

* * *

New Kid

* * *

Breath, Rhyme… Breath, the young girl thought within the depths of her mind. Moving into a new school wasn't easy, unless your father or mother keeps moving their jobs from one place to another. For Rinowa Winder (known more formally as Rhyme), moving to a new school at the age of twelve, was not easy.

Thirteen, and already a Freshman in highschool, Rhyme skipped a grade due to her exceeding intelligence. She was passing with straight A+'s. She was doing an after school program every day, until about five o'clock PM. When she had to move, it was either – restart 7th grade, or go straight to 9th.

Rhyme chose 9th. Except she wouldn't be able to start until the second Quarter of the year. Rhyme almost wasn't ready for this…

Rhyme had heard terrible things about highschool from her friends' older siblings. How once you take one step into the building you'll burst into flames. If you are a Freshman and survive till the end of the year, you'll just have to survive through summer. Always keep a look out for stray teachers going in for the kill. Never eat the school lunches.

Don't get eaten.

Rhyme shuttered at the thought. Inhaling deeply, she stood in front of the towering double-door entrance. The school itself was a mansion with the supernatural sense of icy cold fingers reaching out to take hold of the small frame and ram her inside its darkened, cobweb covered hallways. With pictures of the past principles hanging on the wall while their eyes followed you.

Another shiver ran up the young girls back. The typical high school uniform sagged on her, the shirt too big and the skirt to long due to her height and body shape. The socks fell down her legs. She was lucky enough that the shoes fit her feet.

Holding her breath, the young girl pushed the door open and took one step into the school. She stood there, the door closing behind her. The near silent click of the door back in its place sounded like an explosion in Rhyme's mind. A few moments passed before she realized she hadn't burst into flames.

Rhyme looked down at herself. All in tact. Maybe the rumors were all false? Releasing the breath she had held in, the young girl made her way over to the front office. Luckily for her it was right in front of the main entrance.

Stepping inside of the small cavern, a giant man sat at the front desk. His body could crush Rhyme within seconds.

"Can I help you?" the giant man asked, his voice lower than the Earth's crust. His voice seemed to shake right through Rhyme's body, an earthquake about to shatter her entire being. The man glared up at her through dark dread locks, his mouth twitching with impatience.

"I-I…" Rhyme could barely splurt a word out, she was so intimidated. The young girl gulped.

"Higashizawa…" a smooth, tender voice came from behind. "Don't give her that look… she's still so young. Let her through."

An angry grunt came form the man at the front desk. Rhyme jumped, soon quickly moving to the small room behind the gargantuan man. Rushing into the other room, a man with scruffy black hair rested upon his head, his chin covered by the same shade, but less hair and more scruff. White collared shirt, black vest, black jeans. This guy actually seemed normal.

"You must be Rinowa Winder, correct?" the man asked.

"I-it's pronounced like the nature wind, sir… not a metal spring wind… sir," Rhyme whispered softly, a blush dancing across her face.

The man laughed. "Right, right, Winder," he replied, still pronouncing it incorrectly. "My name is Sanae Hanekeoma, but you can call me Mr. Hanekeoma or Mr. H. I'm the principal here at this highschool. You are welcome to my office at anytime you want to talk about something. I don't get the usual students, but I get the rare visitor. Here is your schedule, your locker number and its combination. Here's a map of the school incase if you get lost as well."

The papers just seemed to pile onto Rhyme's arms while the principal continued to talk. Once he finished his little monologue there, he laughed and sat down at his desk. "You're first class is Art with Mister… I dunno," he said simply, forgetting the art teachers name. "…have fun."

Rhyme just stared at the principal and then got up, "Thank you Mr. H," Rhyme said shyly. Fixing her skirt a bit, the tiny blonde ran out of the office and down towards the art room. She came to a slow stop, looking at the numbers on each and every door.

32… 34… wait… where was 33? Room 33 was the art room! And it wasn't there?

"What?" Rhyme grumbled to herself. Looking down the hall again, she saw nothing but rooms 18-34 minus 33. Sighing, she turned around quickly to head back to Mr. H's room, when she ran into someone else. Both falling down, Rhyme carefully picked up her papers, making sure not to grab the other persons.

A design of an evening gown with lace and rhinestones running down it's side sat in front of Rhyme's face. A flourish was at the bottom of the picture. 'Eri'. Looking up, Rhyme was face to face with a beautiful female with crimson-pink hair and a sweet face.

"Sorry about that," the girl smiled. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was headed. I've been too busy thinking of a new design. By the way, my name is Eri." She smiled. Her smile seemed to light up Rhyme's worries.

"I-it's okay," Rhyme replied with a soft voice. "My name is Rinowa… but call me Rhyme please!" Grinning, she and Eri stood up. "Hey, Eri… do you know where room 33 is? I can't find it… it almost doesn't exist…"

The redhead laughed, her pearly whites glistening with pride. "They screwed up the rooms when they built this school. Room 33 is on the other side, I'm headed there right now, I'll show you!" Fixing herself, Eri began to walk, with Rhyme on her trail.

This girl can walk fast! Rhyme thought to herself. What is she, a junior with lightning speed?

"Here we are!" Eri grinned stepping into the class room. Rhyme stopped at the doorway. Only three other students were in there. A tan-skinned female with blonde-gold hair, another girl with short brown hair that seemed to be fiddling with a small pink phone and a guy, maybe senior year with dark skin… and a hat. Isn't that against school rules to wear hats?

"Hey, Rhyme, come on," Eri grinned. "You can sit with me and Nao-Nao." Being pulled away (more of dragged), Rhyme was placed on a stool next to Eri, the caramel coloured girl on the other side.

"Like, hi!" the blonde girl said. Rhyme guessed this must have been that 'Nao-Nao' Eri had mentioned. "My name's Nao, but call me Nao-Nao for short, okay? What's your name?"

Rhyme smiled at the strange way of making a name shorter.

"I'm Rinowa, but you can call me Rhyme!" the blonde said with a cheerful disposition than normal.

"That's, like, such a cute name, y'know?" Nao smiled. Looking over Nao's shoulder, Rhyme could see the only guy in the room staring at her, like he would devour her.

Golden eyes, bronze-burned skin, three small scars running down his cheek. Gray-silverish brown hair, topped off with a red bandana and a studded black funky baseball cap. A tattoo that looked like black flames rose up his right arm.

Eri looked to where Rhyme was looking. She cleared her throat a bit. "You're the new girl, right?" the redhead asked. "…you moved up from seventh grade?"

Rhyme snapped out of her small trance and looked up at the redhead. "Huh…? Yeah," she said softly. "I moved from Gion to Shibuya this year. My Dad got a new and better paying job."

"That's great!" Nao grinned. "So, are you, like, adapted yet to Shibuya…?"

Rhyme shook her head no. Eri laughed a bit. "Well here," she grinned, her teeth shining again. "Nao and I will help you out with this school, and Shibuya!"

"Really? Thanks!"

"First thing is first though," Eri began. "To be at this highschool, North Shibuya Highschool District, you need to know your people and your status quo's. Nao and I are the two head leaders of the Fashion Club on Thursdays—" she got in a little closer, pointing towards the hat guy "—that's Sho Minamimoto, Senior executive for the Modern Art Club on Thursdays, and the Math Club on Tuesdays. There's Yoshiru Kiryuu, also known as Joshua, who is the 'Prince' of the school. He's under Mr. H's wing right now for Fostercare, that's the only reason that boy gets to do anything he wants. He and his posse, made up of Kitaniji and Konishi are ALWAYS by his side. Neku Sakuraba is the second-in-line valedictorian of the Sophmore class, next to his current boyfriend Josh. There are Uzuki and Kariya, watch out for those two; the only thing they do is cause trouble."

"…there are a lot of people to look out for…" Rhyme said, that guy staring at her again. Sho? Sho Minamimoto? Sounds like he could really crunch you up… Rhyme thought.

Eri laughed at Rhyme's comment. "No worries, you'll be fine, most of those kids won't bother you," she said sweetly. Even though Rhyme just met Eri, she felt as though the red-head was already an older sister.

Eri continued onward with names and occupations. Several names came up, Sota, Beat, Sho AGAIN, Higashizawa (that creepy huge guy at the front desk), 'The Ramen Guy', and 'other Freshmen'. Rhyme blinked a little at the red head.

How much can one girl talk in five minutes…? Rhyme thought to herself.

"So, let's start with toda-" Eri began

"Oh, Eri?" Nao interrupted. "Like, I was wondering if we're still, like, getting together at 104?"

"Oh yeah!" Eri smacked a fist down into a flat hand that made Rhyme jump a bit. "And we can bring Rhyme with us! What d'ya say Rhyme?"

The blonde stared up at the older female. The was a pregnant pause before Rhyme smiled. "I'll have to ask my folks back home, but I'd love to!" she grinned childishly. Just moving in and already making some good friends. Already, Rhyme enjoyed this year. High school was a lot better than she had imagined and heard about.

When the class began at last, Rhyme was told what they were doing. They had to make some form of modern art sculpture using either clay or glue and props.

Rhyme chose clay. She hadn't worked with clay since the second grade. Getting out the materials that she needed, she looked over at Sho again. He must have been using glue and props… his… uhm… "art" looked more like a giant… pile of trash glued to together. What type of art looked like cars broken and crushed with other sort of metallic items?

"Don't like, think about him…" Nao said softly, breaking Rhyme out of her weirded out state.

"He doesn't date… so many girls have tried, none have ever looked at him with a smile ever again. He secludes himself from the world… the three things that he loves are Math, giant junk piles (his "art"), and himself. He's never looked at a girl or guy with the eyes of a lover," Eri finished off. "I was a girl who tried so many years ago… he was an 8th grader, and I was in 6th… I thought I could do it… the only thing he said was… well… silence." Sighing Eri looked back at her clay, swirling her finger on the surface.

"…that's so… what a dick," Rhyme put it down. "…like honestly! He could've at least declined you with a 'no thank you' or shown some sort of respect, I mean! What kinda guy does that to a girl? Douche…"

Both Eri and Nao stared at Rhyme with wide eyes. They didn't know Rhyme could swear… Rhyme looked at the both of them, smiling sheepishly.

"S-sorry… I got ahead of myself…" she hummed. Going back to her clay, she allowed the sloppy tan ceramic to cover her fingers and get up her arms. She enjoyed clay. It was messy and fun.

Art class took a while. Rhyme wanted it to end. Quickly. Sho kept looking at her like he was seriously going to shove an apple in her mouth, put her in an oven, roast her over an open fire and eat her for dinner. It scared her. She shuddered everytime she spotted him staring at her like that.

Where was the bell? When was the bell going to come?

"Hey Rhyme?" Nao interrupted her thoughts again. "Like, what class do you have next?"

"Oh… uhm… lemme check…" Rhyme fumbled through her pocket to find a small piece of paper with her schedule. "I have uh… Study hall? …In room… 45…"

The bell rang as the three girls stood up with their supplies and books. "Room 45 is actually just down the hallway. It isn't hard to miss, glass windows, can see right into it. It's also part of the Library, so it's not hard to find," Eri said with a smile. Waving to Rhyme, she and Nao walked off, giggling.

Sho walked by her, their eyes locked for a mere millisecond and then disconnected. Yep. She was sure of it now… he was going to kill her. But even though it seemed like he was going to kill her… that single millisecond, that single tiny fragment of time made Rhyme's entire being corrupt into a world of… curiosity. A flash of gold sent shivers running marathons up and down her back. That miniscule measure of life made Rhyme want to jump off a cliff and end Freshmen year.

Leaving the room as quickly as she could, Rhyme found the Library pretty easily. Eri was right, it wasn't that hard to find. That made looking for 2nd period was going to be easy for her.

Sighing, she placed her bag on a chair, and then walked over to the library side, looking through all the different books. Sighing, she really hadn't found any that she had already read or wasn't really interested in. Heading back over to the table with her bag, she saw her bag on the floor and a blonde girl kicking it, texting away.

"E-excuse me…" Rhyme muttered. The female didn't turn. "Excuse me!" The blonde finally turned, her mouth turned into a frown, glaring at the younger female through thin-rimmed glasses resting on her nose.

"You have no right to speak to me," she said all snooty-like, her voice snobbish and high pitched. "You took my spot."

"I-I'm sorry.. .b-but my bag was there before you came over and sat do—"

The blonde female stood up, grabbing Rhyme's collar and lifted her up a bit. Rhyme struggled, her toes the only thing touching the ground. She clutched onto the girl's wrist, almost gasping for air.

"What did you say?" the woman hissed at her. …Eri and Nao warned Rhyme about this girl. She was Konishi, wasn't she? Rhyme struggled a little, not wanting to die by the hands of this… panther.

"I… I d-didn't know it was yours! I-I just got here today…!" the smaller blonde squeaked.

Konishi didn't loosen her grip. As a matter of fact, she tightened it.

"Put her down, Iron Maiden," a voice echoed through. Konishi's eyes seemed to light up like ears on a dog upon hearing the voice. It was low, husky… Rhyme turned her eyes, spotting a snake-like man. His hair was… long, gross and oily. He had sunglasses over his most likely dark eyes. He must have been the second one of the deadly trio... Kitaniji…

Konishi dropped Rhyme instantly, the young blonde falling to the ground. Coughing a bit, Rhyme grabbed her bag and books, bowing respectfully to the male, she began to head out before he interrupted her.

"Where do you think you're going… Breakfast?" he purred out. Why must Freshman be called by foods or meals? Rhyme shivered as she turned around, and bowed respectfully again.

"…t-to a different area so… sh-she can have her s-seat back…" Rhyme fumbled out.

Kitaniji smirked. "What's your name Breakfast?" he hissed.

"…Rh-Rhyme…"

"Ahh…" the female spoke. "…you're the one that Joshua was talking about to us… Josh says Mr. H might treat you like his own daughter because Josh isn't enough. No wonder he spoke rudely of you… You're really nothing but a worthless, vexatious nothing in the bleak emptiness of null void."

Ow. That hurt. That hurt really bad. Rhyme didn't like this woman, not one bit. Not a single moment did this woman actually make Rhyme feel accepted into the world of high school. Rumors were right, SENOIRS WILL EAT FRESHMAN.

They even gave them names of different meals of the day and foods. Wonderful. Just… wonderful.

Rhyme wanted the bell to ring. And soon. She wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. Well… at least not to these two. They were vultures, and Rhyme the prey. They eyed her daringly, hungry to see her blood on the floor. SENOIRS WILL KILL FRESHMEN.

On their faces you could see the words running through their head. 'MURDER FRESHMAN. MURDER FRESHMEAT.'

Rhyme squeaked as the bell went off. Konishi and Kitaniji walked by her gracefully, not touching her as they practically floated by her. She was near frozen from fear. Her heart was racing, beating base drums in her head. Yay for parades…

Finally calming down, Rhyme made her way down the hall. Gym next. That meant she had last lunch, fabulous. It wasn't that she didn't mind having lunch last, it was just the fact that she had breakfast at five thirty in the morning, so she was already hungry, even though it was only ten thirty.

Quickly making her way down the hallways and finding the gym, Rhyme walked up to the teacher. He was a tall slender male, seemingly harmless. "Ahh, you must be Rinowa, correct?" he asked, his voice smooth. Rhyme nodded.

"Please, I'd like to be called Rhyme if that's alright with you," she said politely. The teacher nodded as he motioned for her to follow him. Going into a small room, he opened up a closet door, taking out what looked like a hand-me-down gym uniform.

"I suppose you are smaller for normal Freshmen…" he said softly. "This should fit you. The girls' locker room is on the other side of the gym. Quickly get changed and ready and we'll be meeting out on the tennis courts. We'll be playing a…" the man murmured off, walking off as well towards a group of boys with skateboards. "Daisukenojo Bito! I thought I told you, Sota, and Yammer no skateboards on school premisies! Hand them over now!"

Rhyme giggled softly at the three boys as she ran across the wide gym floor to the locker room, quickly finding an empty cubby and throwing her stuff in there and speedily getting into her gym clothes. Surprisingly they fit fairly well. Slipping on her pair of sneakers, Rhyme bolted out of the locker room and out to the tennis courts in the lower fields. It wasn't that hard to spot them, hearing the shouting coming from rambunctious, rousing high school boys.

When the smaller female reached the group, the teacher smiled over to her. "Class, we have someone new today," he smiled. Wow, they were back in the early years of school where the new kid just HAD to be introduced? Greaattt… Rhyme grumbled a bit as all eyes fell on her. "This is Miss Rhyme," the teacher smiled softly. "I would appreciate if everyone showed respect to Miss Rhyme so that way she can feel accepted in our class."

Rhyme smiled softly as a blonde male, fairly large and muscular looked over at her, suddenly becoming completely ga-ga. "SHE'S SO CUTE, YO!" he screamed running up to her and wrapping his arms around her neck and holding her close to him. Rhyme shrieked as he gripped onto her. Some of the students began to laugh as Rhyme flailed to have the ability to breath.

Finally letting go, Rhyme gasped for air. Not moments later did Beat grab Rhyme's cheeks and squish them like a grandmother to a grandchild she hadn't seen in a few years. "Aw man! She looks like me too!" he grinned as he dragged her over to Sota and Yammer and held his face next to hers. "We could be distant relatives, yo!" he laughed. Rhyme had to giggle slightly at the comment.

"Alright class!" the teacher finally announced. "I'll be setting up tennis and basketball. If you don't want to play either, then you can just run or walk around the courts. Understood? Good!"

Beat looked down at Rhyme. "Whaddya gonna do?" he grinned.

"I was going to go play some tennis," Rhyme said shyly. She was still overwhelmed by him practically attacking her. The young girl looked at the other two boys. One of them had that same caramel skin that Nao had. "You look a lot like someone I met in first period…" Rhyme said softly.

Sota laughed. "Nao, right?" he smiled. "She's my little sister. Craziest lesbian thing I've ever known." Yammer began to laugh. And with the laughing, he got a whack on the back of his head from Sota. "Shaddup," he spat.

Beat grinned and picked Rhyme up and placed her on his back in a shoulder ride. "Then tennis it is, yo!" he laughed as he began to walk over to the courts. "I wanna see what you like in sports, yo."

"I'm only so-so in tennis," Rhyme smiled, keeping a grip on the muscular male so she wouldn't fall over. "I rock at soccer and colour guard though."

"You into colour guard?"

"Yeah! At my old school I was always number one for that stuff, but then I had to leave the team because my Mom wanted me to do more academic stuff and become more of a LADY~ Pfft. I'd rather be the Quarterback of the football team than be a lady—WHA!"

Beat pulled Rhyme off his shoulders and held her tightly again. "YOU REALLY ARE MY DISTANT RELATIVE~" he said proudly. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?"

Rhyme squeaked as Yammer ran over to the two and pulled them apart. Rhyme had to laugh. Already, she made more friends. First day was going great!

When the finally got to the courts, Beat and Rhyme began to duke it out, talking more about each other. Rhyme learned that Beat HATED his real name, always spent his after school life either jamming with the music club, or out skateboarding with friends. His favourite food is curry and he still thinks that Rhyme is his distant younger sister.

Beat, in turn, found out that Rhyme as well hates her real name, spends after school time doing whatever she can to look good for a college resume. Her favourite food are oreo's and shio ramen. She thinks Beat is crazy for attacking her every five seconds thinking that they're distant relatives.

By the time third period ended and it was time to go to lunch, Beat and Rhyme really did decide that they were distant siblings that they lost through… the War or something like that. Beat said it was because of aliens, Sota and Yammer just laughed.

Rhyme became happier from now knowing that with having Beat, Yammer, and Sota in her third period class, she'd also have them in her lunch. She was glad that she was able to sit next to them. She also gained a few new friends as well; Shooter and… dare she say that he actually is at the same table as her?

Sho Minamimoto.

The entire time he was with them at the lunch table, he just glared at her; his golden eyes locking onto her petite frame. He'd look down at his food, take a bite and then look back up to her. The other's didn't seem to notice, but Rhyme was getting fairly annoyed.

"Would you stop that?" Rhyme spat, the table going quite as Sho continued to glare at her. "I mean, ever since first period you've just been glaring at me intently like you're going to… going to… bite my head off and then save my body in a freezer for a midnight snack later. I'm sick and tired of—"

Beat covered her mouth as Rhyme continued to rant through his fingers, no words audible. He looked at her strangely, then took his hand off.

"—art? What kind of art is tha—"

He covered her mouth again. More muffled noises. Shooter and Yammer looked at each other and then Beat looked at Sota who just shrugged and made a hand motion. Beat removed his hand.

"—mother fucker, stop looking at me!"

The entire table stayed silent. Sho smirked. "Well, my dear decimal," he sneered. "If you think of it that way, what would you rather me do? Watch you with oversized eyes—" he opened his eyes widely "—or the rather mysterious type and get real close to your face—" Sho leaned over Sota to inch in close to Rhyme's face. "—so you can try to read my mind."

"STOP. STARING. AT ME." Rhyme spat at him. Show sighed and then moved back.

"Fine then you fraction," he said simply, continuing his meal. Shooter snorted.

"That was awesome how Beat kept covering your mouth and didn't stop! It was like magic or something!" Shooter began to laugh as did the rest of the table, along with Rhyme. She was just happy she got that off her chest.

"Yo Rhyme," Beat began. "Whaddya got next for classes?"

Rhyme slipped out her schedule and looked at it. "Math with… Mister Oiji and… student tacher Mister Minamimoto…" Rhyme felt a huge gulp rush through her throat. Her face slowly turned towards Minamimoto who was glaring and smirking at her.

"Surprise."

* * *

WELL IF THAT DIDN'T TAKE OVER A MONTH TO WRITE, I DON'T KNOW WHAT DID.

So, it's FINALLY here, the first chapter of my second TWEWY fanfiction. Phew, talk about not knowing what to do most the time. I really just half-assed all of this. xD

Is it good for half-assing? I hope so.

So, for my Rhyme (you know who you are) whom I persuaded to RP Sho x Rhyme with me, made her fall madly in love with the pairing; this is for you. You can yell at me later why this wasn't up earlier.

Toodles~

-E-Y


	2. Battle Royal

Disclaimer: I don't own. Yadda yadda yadda. Boom. Done

I died for so long. And yet here it is. Why? Get to the end of the chapter and I will tell you why.

* * *

Battle Royal

* * *

How cold this of have been possible? This day could not have gone any better and then it just had to be ruined by this single man. A single man made the best day completely shift. A cosmic shift. And Rhyme hated it.

This is how wars started. One thing can cause a shift and all of a sudden their are over six million dead in Europe.

Okay, well, Rhyme was going to kill anyone, she wasn't that type of person. Hell, she could barely stand horror or violent video games. They drove her insane. Gave her nightmares for months, even if it was just a ten-minute watching period.

But the point was, that Sho Minamimoto was going to be in her last period class, and Rhyme was not excited.

"Are you kidding me right now?" she spat angrily as she grabbed her books, her bag and her lunch and spat; yes, actually spat at Sho's face and then left. She was going to deal with him.

"Yo, where are you going? Lunch doesn't end for ten minutes!" Beat exclaimed as he watched the young blonde storm off without saying a word.

It was almost an iconic moment. Sometimes the new girl gets destroyed her first day of school, or sometimes she becomes the greatest person in all of about two hours and everyone is in love with her. Rhyme had a mixture of both. She had a few new people she could easily claim as 'going to be friends', and then a few people that could walk into her life and completely destroy it.

But that wasn't the kicker. The kicker was that Rhyme quietly moved her way into the bathroom, opened up the largest stall, locked it, pushed herself up onto the window sill and finished her lunch. Yes, she was having lunch in the bathroom.

And that is when the near movie-like scenario hit. What was going to happen next? She would save the school, get the man of her dreams and live happily ever after? She didn't have a man of her dreams, she didn't have a girl of her dreams. There was no place for someone that could be a love interest to get in the way in her dreams. She didn't want a love life. That's right, a thirteen year old girl that didn't give a crap about boys or being in 'love'.

No. She wanted to go into theater, maybe do more marching band. Hell, she'd be stoked even if she went and worked at a store that couldn't be far enough away from Sho Minamimoto. She hated him. She didn't even know him and she hated him.

Well, her lunch was gone. She quickly pulled out her phone to check the time. Three minutes left of lunch. Well, she'd have to face the beast in the face even if she didn't want to.

Maybe, just maybe, if the stars aligned and the Pluto became a planet again, there would be something that could change her school year for the better. Maybe a school musical, or maybe she could join marching band late! Anything that could make her year just a little better.

The bell rang and Rhyme put her lunchbox back into her bag and pulled out her schedule and map. Next class was technically Algebra II, but it was still a math class, and it still had Sho Minamimoto.

When she walked out of the bathroom, oh and behold, her favourite person was there. Three guesses who and the first two don't count.

"Why are you here?" Rhyme spat, frowning at the taller male. "I have to deal with you for the next two hours, I don't want to deal with you for the next five minutes and walking at the same time. I don't think I could multitask like that."

Without another word, Rhyme began to storm off, staring down at her map. Though she didn't hear the footsteps behind her, she did feel the rough hand grab her upper arm and pull her into a small locker corner and shove her against the wall.

Bright blue eyes met with shining golden ones. There was the same cosmic shift. The same power that made one man turn evil and start a war. The blue eyes could almost hear the flames and fires and shots going off. She could hear the screams of the innocent, and the laughter of the wicked.

"This is my school, you zetta digit," the gold eyes flared. Fires of hatred, flames of evil. "And if you _think_ that for one second, for one _millisecond_ that you can take it and over run me. Then you're wrong. There is no chance that you will win this. No chance."

"I don't want to take over," the blue eyes managed. She was the innocent, attempting to through water on the flames. Trying to hide behind buildings or rocks, or the underground.

The gold eyes set a flame again, pushing the smaller frame harder against the lockers and let out a soft growl. He let go, and watched to girl drop ho hold the area the man grabbed her and watched her walk off.

The shift had happened. Two worlds collided. Fires began, and there was no more water to put them out.

Yes. This was war. A violent, merciless war. And Rhyme was going to be the six million murdered. No. Scratch that. She was going to be slaughtered. Slaughtered by one man, and there was nothing she could do. She had no back-up. No American troops to call.

Rhyme held her breath, feeling tears well up in her eyes. She looked up to see Sho almost all the way down the hall, and before he turned, his head twisted to look over his shoulder, and their eyes met.

Even from the a distant, the two worlds collided again. War had begun, and Rhyme knew that Sho was not going to back off. The golden eyes turned forward once more and rounded the bend.

It took the shrill sound of the late bell to awaken Rhyme from her paralyzed state. She was going to have to go into a room with him. She would need to. How could she? She didn't even know. It took her entire being to push herself up, look down at the map and find the room she needed to go to.

Rhyme, for a moment, couldn't tell if she was walking fast, slow, or if she was gliding over the floor, but the walls around her blurred.

Sho wasn't joking around, and Rhyme didn't know what to do. She could go to Mr. H, but she didn't know if that would solve the problem. She could ask Beat to be her personal body guard, but she didn't know if those two were friends, and she didn't want to pull a WWI, with the ally system.

She'd have to face the war alone. And that's what made her fear for her life.

"Miss... Winder?" a voice made Rhyme look up. She had reached the math room. How did that happen?

"Yes," Rhyme said slowly, almost dumbly. "But, it's pronounced like the wind, sir. Not a spring."

"Right right, I'll make a note of that," he stated softly. Mr. Oiji was his name, wasn't it? Rhyme was having a hard time remembering. "Now, is there a reason why you're six minutes late?"

"I... well," Rhyme began to stutter. Mr. Oiji just cut her off and pointed to her seat. There was a strange aura in the room. The looks she was getting from the other students, combined with the awkward introduction with Mr. Oiji, and the dark stare that Sho was giving her from across the room.

It all felt dark. Rhyme was afraid of the dark. Or at least what her imagination created in the dark to scare her and cause other students to make fun of her. But be honest here, there was no way in hell that there couldn't be something in the basement, at the end of the creepy hallway or behind the door that knocked twice and you didn't answer it, but it kept knocking and even though you kept ignoring it it got louder and louder and louder. But, when you got angry and went to the door to tell them to shutup, right before you open the door, the knocking stops and everything becomes ten times more silent than it was.

Never open that door. Just don't do it. And never say Bloody Mary three times into the mirror with one candle lit. She might just actually pop out of the mirror and rip your eyes out. Just don't do it.

Papers were passed out to all the students, and it was now Sho's turn to take over the class. For a moment, he just began talking. Calling everyone digits and yoctograms, and who knows what else. But that's not what got Rhyme.

What got to her was that there were thirty problems on this page, she only knew how to solve maybe two thirds of them and Sho was giving them half an hour and they'd be graded by what they had finished. But the thing was, that these were definitely problems that would need at least two to five minutes to finish. Not one minute per problem.

So Rhyme began the moment that Sho started the clock. She got down the ones she knew in maybe eight minutes flat. Now she just had to try to figure out the ones that they had been teaching and she didn't know.

"That's wrong," she heard the voice of the devil over her shoulder as the tattoo'd hand touched the edge of her desk.

"Sorry that I haven't been here the last quarter," she snarked back. She watched as the hand gripped the desk just a tiny bit harder, short nails beginning to dig into the wood. A triumphant smirk hit Rhyme's lips, but was soon gone when the hand relaxed and stole her pencil right out of her hands.

The moment that happened, rhyme raised her hand. Mr. Oiji walked over to her and her hand came down.

"Is there something you need?" he asked softly.

"Well, yes actually, a few things," Rhyme began as she watched Sho walk off as if nothing happened. "First, do you think I could come in early or stay late some day so I can catch up? I mean, I just came in today and I don't know what you've been working on. And the other is, is do you think I could have a pencil? It seems I've uhm... suddenly lost mine."

"Stay a little late today so we can work out some dates for you to come in to catch up," Mr. Oiji smiled as he handed her his pencil. "For now, do the ones you know, I won't grade yours since you obviously don't know what most of this is. you can try some if you'd like, but you don't have to worry about it."

Rhyme quietly thanked the teacher and went to work on the last few ones that she thought she could work out, but didn't know. Some of them, when she started to read it, she didn't even touch them. Way out of her league.

"Time's up! Papers forward!" Mr. Oiji said, taking Rhyme's first and placing it on his desk as the other students began pass their papers forward. Some of the students seemed genuinely pleased with their works, others gripping their heads and some just grumbled and groaned.

The bell rang and everyone grabbed their bags and started to head off to the door. Rhyme casually placed her books in her bag and stood by Oiji's desk as he talked with Sho while he grabbed his own supplies.

When sho left, their eyes locked again, his eyes gone dark and glaring at hers. Rhyme forced herself to show no emotion, and just watched him leave.

"So, I can put you in for this Wednesday and Thursday and you can stay after for how long?" Oiji asked as he pulled out his planner.

"I can stay 'till five each day," Rhyme said softly. "My Dad can come pick me up when we're done."

"Perfect. Then I will see you tomorrow."

"Thank you so much Mr, Oiji," Rhyme said with a quick bow as she walked out of the room. Quietly, Rhyme walked through the bustling hallways. Everyone seemed excited it was the end of the day. Rhyme probably couldn't be more happy. After all, she wouldn't have to deal with Sho until tomorrow morning. And then, Rhyme would be with Eri and Nao so she would have some protection.

Rhyme looked at the bus and sighed. She didn't want to go on that thing.

"Hey! Rhyme!" a shout was overheard from above the other voices and the young blonde was soon met up with Eri. "Hey! Didn't you hear me? I was trying to get your attention since we were inside the school!"

"Oh sorry, no," Rhyme smiled softly. "I've had a lot on my mind and with all the talking around and couldn't really hear you."

"Well that's okay," she smiled. "Hey, why don't I drive you home? I mean, you're about to go on the bus I used to, so I assume you live nearby me. What's your address?"

Rhyme was about to blatantly say it before she quickly looked around for the familiar golden eyes trying to peer in. Eri furrowed her brows a bit at the action.

"I live over in Apartment Twenty-three near East," she said. Eri's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Well I'll be damned!" Eri grinned from ear-to-ear. "You live in the building across from mine! Come on! I'll drive you home! You'll have to tell me all about your first day."

Rhyme was glad that Eri was near by. That meant that she'd be able to have a friend near if Sho did something to sabotage her or if she just needed someone near by. That made her feel a little bit better about where she is.

Eri had a... extremely nice car. As in... Lamborghini nice. Red. With white walled tires.

"Woah," Rhyme mustered out.

"Oh yeah," Eri grinned. "My Dad is a top-notch brain surgeon and Mom is a top-notch lawyer. Sooo, I get a really nice first car it seems. I actually wanted a truck. Something to hold all my fashion supplies. This holds by sewing machine if I'm lucky enough. Hop on in!"

Rhyme had to let out a laugh as she opened the door and popped into the passenger seat. They had to wait for the buses to leave before they could head off. The wind felt great on Rhyme's face. A little cold, but great nonetheless.

It was such a new experience.

When Eri mentioned Rhyme's first day of school the young blonde went off. She just went off about how in study hall the right hand and left hand of Joshua almost ate her, how she made more friends in gym and how Sho is a creep and she had to deal with him in her math class. Though, she didn't mention about the war that was about to take place in the school. That was not something to share with anyone just yet.

"Wow," Eri said, catching a red light. "Sounds like you've had your hands fu-"

"Hey sweetheahts!" a voice rang out from next to Eri.

"Eugh... American's," Eri frowned. "Sometimes they're really nice, and then there's these ones."

"Is that your ride or do you need a new one?" one shouted out. "Because I got one that's eight inches and ready to be driven!"

Eight inches? What the hell was he talking about.

"And I got one that's ten!" the other screamed. "You could drive both at the same time baby!"

"Honey please!" Eri yelled back. "I don't drive men! I destroy them!" One man made an audible 'ooooh' to the other. The first man smacked the second in anger.

"Green light," Rhyme said softly. Eri smirked and turned her music up as she pushed down on the gas, burning rubber and speeding off, honking to the two Americans.

"What were those two even talking about?" Rhyme asked softly, looking over her shoulder. Eri quickly grabbed Rhyme's head and made it face front.

"Don't look back, it only encourages them," she said softly. "As to what they were talking about, that's something I don't think I could discuss."

Rhyme only nodded and smiled when the music was turned down and they finally reached their apartments.

"Well, home, sweet home," Eri smiled as she pulled into the parking garage and pulled up the second floor and parked in her respected spot. Quickly, Eri grabbed a small piece of paper and scribble down some near eligible numbers.

"There's my number, text me if you can join me and Nao at Ten-Four," she smiled. "We're leaving at around three." That only gave Rhyme about fourty minutes to get ready. "And we'll probably be back around six. Actually, are your parents home?"

"Yeah," Rhyme nodded. "My Dad is. He's a stay-at-home. Why?"

"It might make sense if I go with you to meet with him to make sure that he knows who you're going with," Eri grinned. "I know that my Dad would flip if I went with someone he didn't know."

"Oh sure!" Rhyme grinned as she grabbed all her stuff and walked Eri up to her Apartment room. She was only on the third floor, so they just walked up. It really wasn't that much for stairs.

When they hit the room, the small blonde quietly pulled out her house key and fumbled a bit, trying to get it in the lock. Her hands were shaking. Why were her hands shaking? Finally getting the door open, Rhyme looked into the studio living area. It smelt like paint, bacon and cleaning solution. Taking her shoes off, Rhyme placed her bag down on the couch near the door and walked in.

"Dad?" she called out. No response. Rhyme frowned. "Daaaddd?" Finally there was a rumble in the bedroom and out came a frumpy-looking English man in loose jeans, half-unbuttoned shirt and a scarf.

"Hey Dad," Rhyme grinned. "Is Pops still working?"

"Eugh..." the man left out. "Yes. He is. Said he won't be home until late. So it's just you and me for dinner tonight. Whaddya want? We don't have health-freak to fear over what we ea-... hello. Who are you? Is this a friend?" there came a small pause. "Is this a girlfriend? Why didn't you tell us? We wouldn have accepted you you kn-"

"N-nooo Dad," Rhyme giggled as she reached up and fluffed her father's scarf. "This is my friend Eri. I met her today in the hallway."

"Well, more like ran into each other," Eri responded with a small laugh as she politely bowed to Rhyme's father. The man smiled and bowed in return.

"My name's James Winder," he said softly. "It's very nice to meet you Eri. I'm so glad you bumped into Rhyme, I wouldn't know what to do if she came home crying about her first day of school!" The man paused again, his eyes widening. "Ah! Where are my manners! Would you like something to drink? Or to eat?"

"Oh no thank you," she began softly. "I just wanted to see if it's alright I take Rhyme here to Ten-Four with me and my girlfriend, if that's alright with you. We'd be back before six, and we won't be leaving until three. I need to go pick my girlfriend up."

"Of course! Of course! What better way to show a newcomer Shibuya none other than a Shibuyan herself?" James laughed, nodding and hugging Rhyme. It was an English thing, Eri could only assume.

"Awesome! Well thank you so much Mr. Winder! I'll be back soon!" Eri quickly bowed before slipping her shoes back. "I'll see you in a bit Rhyme!" Eri grinned ans quietly left.

Rhyme turned to her Dad and smiled.

"What?" he said. "What's that smile about?"

"You're crazy, you know that?" she smiled.

"Well, if I do say so myself, I think I am brilliant," James grinned, ruffling her hair. "So dinner tonight! what will it be?"

"Hmmm..." Rhyme thought for a moment as she pulled out a bottle of water and some of her school books. That was a good question. They could have anything they wanted tonight. It's both a bad and good thing. Bad because sometimes Pops found out, and good because it's whatever they wanted.

"Oh! Bangers and mash! That's what I want!" Rhyme grinned as she pointed to her father. "We haven't had those since last year!"

"Bangers and mash it is!" James said excitedly. "Now go get into something to wear in public. You're not wearing that over-sized potato sack of a school uniform in public. Wear that summer dress we got you last year. And something on your legs too!"

Rhyme smiled as she walked over to her tiny bedroom and pulled out the small dress and a pair of leggings. She'd need something for her arms. Jacket it was. Aaannnddd sneakers. She wasn't going to have her toes freeze on her.

Rhyme also grabbed her all known skull beanie and walked out into the living room, checking the time. She had a couple more minutes.

"Augh..." James began. "You're going to wear that? With all of your cute clothes happening and you chose that beanie?"

"I love it though," Rhyme complained as she pulled it over her ears. "Hey, do you think I could have a bit of money or something?"

James sighed a bit as he pulled out his wallet and handed the small girl about 600 yen.

"There," he said softly. "That should cover any little thing you get. Now go, she'll be here soon and have fun." Rhyme grinned, hugging her father and running out the door.

"Bye Dad!" she yelled as she left.

Down in front of the building, just as she was walking out, came the beautiful car with Eri and Nao in the two front seats. Rhyme grinned as she popped in the back seat and buckled herself in.

"Like," Nao began. "You look super ccuuuutteee~!" Her voice could easily get annoying to anyone, but it seemed okay to Rhyme. She actually didn't mind it all that much. Maybe it was because Nao was a fairly likeable gal.

Eri began to drive as the three of them began talking about classes, soon about fairly famous people, then about the pin rage, and then it turned into a rant fest by the time they hit Ten-Four. It was as if they didn't run out of things to say.

"The next time that Kariya brings in that stupid lollipop and sucks it extremely loudly in my ear, I'm going to take it, throw it across the room and punch him in the face! I swear!"

"Totally! Oh my god, and Uzuki was be, like, so loud again today. She was driving me, like, up a building."

"Wall, Nao. The term is 'driving me up a wall'."

"Oooohh... that's why people give me, like, weird looks when I say that. That makes totes more sense!"

Okay, so maybe Nao wasn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box, but she wasn't the dullest either. She was just... special. In a good way. The three girls just walked around the building, going into all the different shops. Eri ended up getting some accessories that she said would match perfectly with one of the dresses she was making. Nao got two pairs of pants and three tops plus a new pair of hoop earrings. Though the hoop earrings were apparently a late two year anniversary gift from Eri.

Rhyme? She got a cute cell phone charm. The only other thing that caught her eye was a necklace in the same place that Eri got Nao her new earrings. It was a small gold bell charm on a long chain. There was just something about it that made her smile and feel happy inside.

"Limited addition," the clerk smiled. "This is just a sample necklace. Only 1000 will be made. They all come out next week. Interested in buying?"

"O-oh no..." Rhyme smiled sadly. "It's very beautiful, but I don't think I could afford it." Rhyme smiled at the clerk and he smiled in return as the small blonde went back to the other two.

"Hey Eri?" Rhyme began, the redhead looking down at the smaller girl. "If someone were to say, hypothetically, that they were to indirectly start a war with me, what should I do?"

Eri furrowed her brow a bit. She knew these 'hypothetical', or 'my friend' scenario's. She knew it was always the person that was talking. She knew Rhyme got herself into some trouble.

"Who is it? Is it Joshua?" she began, her brow getting deeper. "Is it Sho?"

Rhyme nodded weakly.

"Damn him," she spat. "I'd say go to the principal, but we all know that wouldn't help stop the problem. Mr. H doesn't do anything for the students. Just... just make a pact with someone you know who will protect you, okay? Try and stay away from him."

"Well," Rhyme began softly. "He's in my last period class as the student-teacher. And I really don't want to switch out of that class because Mr. Oiji seems really nice."

"Ah," Eri frowned. "Find a teacher who will help you. And the librarians let anyone stay in the library at any time, as long as they have a book in their hands. Got it?" Rhyme nodded. "So use that place as a go-to if you need to get away from him."

"Oh my god!" Nao perked up, with a big grin on her face. "I, like, almost forgot to tell you Eri! The school play wants you to do costumes again!"

A very long and loud groan came from Eri as he threw her head back.

"What's it this time?" she said, poison lacing her words.

"It's Romeo and Juliet! They want you to-"

"I love that play!" Rhyme chirped, covering her mouth and apologizing to Nao for interrupting. Nao just laughed and let it go, explaining to her that the auditions would be held after school the next day and if she wanted to do it then she was welcome, but she just needed to have a monologue ready and also be ready to do cold reading.

Yeah, definitely Rhyme was up for it.

By the time it was five thirty, the three packed back up into Eri's car and drove back to Rhyme's apartment and dropped her of, exclaiming that they should do this more often and how Eri could drive her two and from school so she wouldn't have to take the bus. Rhyme simply thanked her and headed up to the apartment. From the first floor she could smell the sausages and potatoes cooking. Dad must've working all day to make those bangers perfect.

Rhyme strangely liked English food. Maybe she was half English and she didn't know it. She knew she was adopted, obviously, but she never knew why she enjoyed foreign food so much.

When she reached her apartment she was greeted by her father, picking her up and swinging her around before running back to the kitchen to keep cooking.

The table was soon set, and the two of them talked about Rhyme's day at school, who she met and who her friends were and who were potential threats.

"Oh! And they're putting on Romeo and Juliet, so I'm going to audition," she grinned, shoving a forkful of mashed potatoes in her mouth.

"That sounds fantastic! I'll bet 200 that you'll get Juliet and the most handsome kid in school will get Romeo and you can dance the night away!" James seemed too excited by it. Rhyme could only laugh and enjoy their dinner.

"The only thing I'm sad about is that they don't have a marching band," she frowned.

"They don't have football," James said simply. Rhyme had to chuckle at that. It was true.

"Yeah, but they have other sports," she began. "We could have a marching band for those."

"Too expensive to do that. They'd have to get instruments and uniforms and flags of all sorts and uniforms for the colour guard and a drill teacher and a director and money for the drum majors and oh it just racks up the dollars fast."

Rhyme smiled as she took a large gulp of her water, soon jumping from the vibration in her pocket. James chuckled at the sight as Rhyme pulled out her phone. Unknown number. she'll check it later.

When dinner was done, Rhyme quickly helped her father clean all the dishes and sprayed the hell out of the house to make sure it didn't smell like unhealthy food. After that, the young girl just went into her room, plopped onto her bed, grabbing the latest installment of her favourite manga, Rave Master and pulled out her phone.

She read the text once. Twice. Three times. He breath got caught in her throat.

_You spoke about our little fight._

_This means war, digit._

_-S_

* * *

You wanna know how I did this?

What was my sound? A baby crying with creepy-ass music if I stopped typing. 3 hours. Almost 5000 words. You better be happy.

This website has put me on track once more. Expect more installments soon.

-E-Y


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